media literacy unit

Thinking Critically

about

Equity

and

Media Literacy

© Nancy Adams, 2010

Thinking Critically about Equity and Media Literacy

Table of Contents

Introduction: What is Media and Media Literacy? ............................................ 5 A. Stereotypes in Stories ................................................................................. 6 B. What We Do and Don’t See on Television ............................................... 13 C. Thinking Critically About Superheroes .................................................... 19 D. Images in Advertising ................................................................................ 25

Conclusion: What We’ve Learned .................................................................... 33 Acknowledgements This resource has been made possible through the generous donations of private individuals, foundations, and corporations who support The Curriculum Foundation, the charitable arm of Curriculum Services Canada. For more details please see www.curriculum.org and see “Grants for Teachers.”

Thinking Critically about Equity and Media Literacy 1

Thinking Critically about Equity and Media Literacy

“Today's definition of literacy is more than reading and writing. In order to be functionally literate in our media-saturated world, children and young people—in fact, all of us—have to be able to read the messages that daily inform us, entertain us, and sell to us. As the Internet becomes a fact of life, the critical thinking skills that help young people navigate through traditional media are even more important.”

http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/why_teach_media_liter.cfm

Thinking Critically about Equity and Media Literacy is designed as a resource for teachers to select the learning tasks that are most relevant to the needs and interests of their students as they learn more about the media that is such an integral part of their lives today.

Students discuss media literacy and why it is important. They tune in to the ways that media treats people, recognize how they themselves relate to media characters and understand how these characters influence their ideas about the people in their communities. Drawing upon personal and life experiences, students develop their critical thinking skills as they deconstruct the messages communicated in various media forms and come to realise that media messages are constructed to express certain perspectives. Students critically analyse types of media, and decide if they are fair (equitable).

Media Literacy is the ability to interpret and create personal meaning from the thousands of verbal and visual symbols we take in through TV, radio, computers, newspapers, magazines, and advertising. It's the ability to choose and select, the ability to challenge and question, the ability to be conscious about what's going on around you and not be passive, and therefore vulnerable. Center for Media Literacy www.medialit.org

Key Learning Students: • understand that different groups might perceive the same events or situations differently;

• learn that media should portray a wide range of age groups, body images, and races with a full range of human traits, attitudes, and capabilities – intelligence, skill, emotion, ability,…;

• increase their ability to explore beyond surface meanings in media;

• learn to respect the dignity of all individuals and the roles people have in society;

• understand that gender bias limits the roles of both genders;

• learn to look at the gaps for those perspectives, voices, and experiences that are not represented;

• recognize that opportunities exist for positive change.


Thinking Critically about Equity and Media Literacy presents concepts under four themes:

A. Stereotypes in Stories

B. What We Do and Don’t See on Television

C. Thinking Critically about Superheroes

D. Images in Advertising

Each theme includes learning tasks that focus on three guiding questions:

1. What Do We Notice? Through the analysis of who is being included in the media, as well as how different social groups are being portrayed, students can recognize if there is the inequitable treatment of different social groups on the basis of race/ethnocultural group, belief system, socio-economic status, gender, ability, appearance, and/or family structure.

2. Is It Fair? Once inequities have been identified in the explicit and implicit media messages, students consider the implications of these messages. They take into consideration how diverse audiences interpret messages differently based upon their own social norms and experiences and how inequitable messages can create limitations and perpetuate unfair treatment of others.

3. What Can We Do? Students see that they can have a voice in creating change. They demonstrate their understanding by challenging the inequities expressed through various media text forms.

Assessment There are opportunities for students to provide evidence of their learning. Teachers decide on which opportunities are relevant. For example, teachers could include an assessment for learning by keeping a checklist of student performance during the stages of work. Assessments through discussion, debriefing sessions, and in one-to-one meetings provide information about student learning.


Resources

Association for Media Literacy http://www.aml.ca

Center for Media Literacy (CML) http://www.medialit.org/

Concerned Children’s Advertisers http://www.cca-children.ca/

Media Awareness Network http://www.media-awareness.ca/

Why Teach Media Literacy http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/teachers/media_literacy/why_teach_media_liter.cfm

The Paper Bag Princess 25th Anniversary Edition: The Story Behind the Story by Robert Munsch. Toronto: Annick Press, 2005.

Teachers should consult their school board policies regarding use of any copyrighted materials.


Glossary Belief Systems are organized sets of doctrines or ideas about some philosophy, being, or

phenomenon. Philosophies, political views, and religions are examples of belief systems. Bias is a strong feeling about something without reason; an intention or preference that makes

it difficult or impossible to judge fairly in a particular situation. Family can be any large or small group of people living together for love and security. First Impression People often make judgements about others based on first impressions

physical appearance, age, language, etc. – that can lead to assumptions about a person’s character, abilities, and suitability for a particular position or role.

Ethnocultural Group Every Canadian belongs to one or more ethnocultural groups. People in

these groups share some cultural heritage – language, belief systems, customs, or national origin.

Equity is a condition or state of fair, inclusive, and respectful treatment of all people. (It does not

mean treating people the same without regard for individual differences.) Gender is the wide set of characteristics that are seen to distinguish between male and female;

the socially constructed roles, behaviours, activities, and attributes that a given society considers appropriate for men and women. Both males and females have the potential to be equal members of society. Gender bias and stereotypes limit the roles of men and women.

Inclusive means including diverse points of view representing the wide variety of societal

groups and that value the identity of all learners. Race is a social grouping that classifies people according to common ancestry and general

physical appearance. Socio-Economic Status Indicators such as birth, education, wealth, inheritance, and

occupation determine a person’s socio-economic status. Stereotypes are judgements (whether positive or negative) made about the person or group.

The danger is that if they are seen often enough, they can affect the way a viewer perceives that group or person.


Introduction: What is Media and Media Literacy? Initiate a discussion on media and organize the information on a web. Prompts: • What is media? (Media includes what we hear on radio, what we

view on television and in movies, and what we read/see in books, in magazines, in newspapers, on billboards, and on the Internet.)

• Why is it important? (Media entertains, informs, amuses, and sells to us.)

List examples of media forms on a chart and post as a reference. Media forms that are read/heard/viewed by a large number of people at one time are called mass media.

Students become more aware of the Five Core Concepts:

1. All media messages are constructed.

2. Media messages are constructed using a creative language with its own rules.

3. Different people experience the same messages differently.

4. Media have embedded values and points of view.

5. Media messages are constructed to gain profit and/or power.

Center for Media Literacy: poster http://www.medialit.org/sites/default/files/14A_CCKQposter.pdf

Explain that the class will be discussing media literacy by looking at some different forms of media and deciding whether they are being fair to all types of people, starting with storybooks, particularly fairy tales.

Choose a story that the class has read or listened to recently. Have students suggest other characters who could have been in the story. List their suggestions. Briefly discuss two of their suggestions by describing ways the story would have been different if either (or both) of these characters had been included. Encourage students to think about the fact that the new character might have a different point of view.

Extension: Students re-write the simple tale of the three little pigs from the point of view of a new character such as a bird observing the scene.

media

media forms

mass media

media literacy


A. Stereotypes in Stories

Key Learning • Develop an understanding of the term stereotype.

• Recognize the implications of stereotypes.

• Increase awareness of what it means to challenge stereotypes.

Students individually draw a sketch of a dragon. After completing, but before showing, their sketches, students brainstorm words to describe dragons in stories (mean, fire-breathing, with scales).

Post the drawings and see how many of these common characteristics were included. Point out that, since they all included most of these characteristics, they have created stereotypical dragons. Prompts • What actually is a dragon? (mythical reptile with claws

and scales)

• What roles do dragons usually play in stories?

Think of stories/films, cartoons where the dragon is not stereotypical (i.e., one that does not breathe fire, is not ugly, is not mean). Discuss their roles in familiar stories.

gender

challenge

assumptions stereotype/stereotypical

discriminate/discrimination

• drawing materials • books that challenge

stereotypes (for display) • chart paper, markers • strips of paper for

sentences • tape • balloons, pin


1. What Do We Notice? Using stories/films as references, small groups brainstorm words to describe stereotypes from fairy tales, e.g., step-mother, prince, villain (male/female), princess. Set up a chart for each one and have students add a line or a sticky note with a word or short phrase that describes one of the characters as we most often see them in fairy tales:

Story Character Characteristics

stepmother mean, ugly

prince

villain (male)

villain (female)

princess beautiful, with billowing skirt

Prompt • What is a stereotype? (making assumptions about what a person is like based on what

group s/he belongs to, rather than his/her individual characteristics).

Post the definition. Point out that stereotypes can be bad even when the characteristic is a good one, e.g., We could say that step-mothers are good cooks, but this would still be a stereotype.

Prompt • Why is this still not a good thing to say? (The members of any group are not all the same so

all step-mothers may not be good cooks!)

Tell students that the stereotypes they have just discussed are gender stereotypes because they characterize men/women and boys/girls in a certain way without considering them as individuals (also called sexism). Guide students to realize that people of the same gender don’t necessarily all share the same characteristics and that both males and females can have many of the same characteristics.

Students brainstorm examples of gender stereotypes they have heard before. Provide strips of paper and markers with which students write their examples. The list might include examples such as: Grandmothers like to knit. Girls prefer pink scooters.


2. Is It Fair?

Further the discussion of stereotypes.

Prompts • How might women/girls feel when they only read about women and girls that are

stereotypes?

• How might men/boys feel when they only read about men and boys that are stereotypes?

Discuss books with non-stereotypical characters. (Use Appendix A: Analysing Story Books for Bias to help guide the selection.)

Prompts • Are there any characters from fairy tales that don’t fit into these stereotypical roles for

stepmothers, princes, villains, or princesses that we discussed? (For example, the wicked step-mother in Snow White is beautiful, even though she is evil).

• Why these characters still stereotypical?

Point out that stereotypes are not always about gender and that there are many other ways that people discriminate against people (e.g., race, age, ability, family type, belief systems). These stereotypes are sometimes all be used to classify people as ‘different.’

Prompts • Are all people with different physical abilities the same?

• Are all physical disabilities visible?

Suggest some other groups that are often stereotyped (older people, toddlers, mothers, fathers, teens, people who live in apartments) Point out that people are discriminated on based on many of these things.

Prompt • How do students who live in apartments feel if all the stories they read show families in

houses?

Revisit a story that has non-stereotypical characters.


3. What Can We Do? Challenging stereotypes is the process of encouraging people to question their assumptions about characteristics of group members and not make assumptions. The librarian could provide samples of books that challenge stereotypes in stories such as The Paper Bag Princess by Robert Munsch. What might it mean to challenge stereotypes? (Read/write stories using characteristics of real step-mothers, real toddlers, etc.)

Brainstorm ways that people challenged stereotypical ideas over the years and made things more equitable. The list might include: • women became doctors or soldiers;

• girls played hockey;

• men became nurses.

After sharing some examples of people who challenge gender stereotypes, have students consider the implications of challenging these stereotypes (easier for children to choose what they want to be as adults, what they can wear, what sports they can play).

Using the list generated in Part 2, create a stereotypical statement about one of the groups in stories such as: All Grandmothers have gray hair.

Prompts

• How might a grandmother with gray hair feel about this statement?

• How might a grandmother with red hair feel?

Discuss whether this statement is actually true or not by having students create a graph of the hair colours of their own grandmothers and grandfathers they know or have read about.

Hair Colour of Grandparents We Know

Hair Colour How Many?

gray

white

black

blonde

brown

Note: Students have many different names for their grandparents depending on their ethnocultural groups.


Working in groups of two or three, students create two stereotypical statements and write them on strips of paper. They post the strips and the class discusses them briefly. The strips might include statements such as: • Teenagers/toddlers always get into trouble. • Most people live in houses. • Men are physically stronger than women. • Women are better with babies than men. • People who wear glasses are smarter. • Graphics of superheroes should only be put onto boys T-shirts and pyjamas; girls should

have princesses. Have students suggest ways that students could test the statements above to see whether they are true or not, e.g., think about real people that they know; take a survey and ask classmates or family members; do research.

In groups, students are given an inflated balloon that has one of the stereotype sentence strips taped to it. Students work to show the implications of this stereotype and fill out a Stereotype Bursting template (Appendix B) to prove this stereotype to be false.

Groups bring their balloons to the front of the class and share what their stereotype was, the implications of this stereotype, and how they have proven this stereotype to be false. If the class feels they have successfully challenged the stereotype, they give a “thumb-up.” If a group gets a “thumbs-up,” they have successfully burst the stereotype and can pop the balloon. If the class feels that they need to develop a stronger argument, they will give a "thumbs-to-the-side" and offer suggestions on ways to challenge the stereotype.

Students then suggest a more realistic statement to replace the stereotypical one. They state it orally or turn over the sentence strip and make an improved statement such as: Grandmothers have lots of different hair colours! or Glasses make people see well!

Students reflect and share what they learned in a journal entry or an exit card. Prompts • What is a stereotype?

• What affect can a stereotype have on you, another person, our school?

• What does it mean to challenge a stereotype?

The concepts of Recognition and Respect could be introduced. It is important that students understand that, for example, recognizing or including characters that are from different races is a step in the right direction; however, those characters need to be portrayed respectfully in the text.


Appendix A: Analysing Storybooks for Bias (for the Teacher) Title: Author:

Age of Target Audience:

Use these questions to help select books:

Will students find themselves, their families, and/or their race or ethnocultural groups represented in the story?

Do the characters dress as stereotypical males or females? What role does this character play in the story? (Example: the hero, the villain, the victim, the one who gets in trouble, the helper, the caregiver, the brain, the clumsy one, the trickster, someone not to be trusted)

Are the actions of the characters ‘real’ in the book?

Is there more than one racial group illustrated in this book? Which racial groups are included? How many characters represent each group?

If there are any characters with different abilities in the story, how are they portrayed?

If there are elderly characters in this story, how are they portrayed?

How is physical appearance represented in this story? (Are characters all thin, blonde, with fancy clothes, long straight hair, and pale skin or do they look more varied?)

How is strength represented? (with big muscles, by fighting, by destroying “evil,” through physical power, by saving victims or by solving ‘real-life’ problems)

Is the story free of inappropriate language?

Is there a subtle bias that leads to misleading information in the story?

Does the story include all people who can be reasonably represented?

Note: A story containing a high degree of bias should not be used in the classroom. Stories with some obvious bias should be accompanied by discussion and critical thinking prompts and tasks.


Appendix B: Stereotype Bursting

Group Members:

Stereotype:

Why would this concern people? Who might it concern the most? What we did to decide if the stereotype is true or false (explain):

We thought about people we know

We did research in books or the Internet

We took a survey and made a graph

We _________________________________________________

We decided that we had enough evidence to burst the stereotype. YES NO

Group Members:

Stereotype: Why would this concern people? Who might it concern the most? What we did to decide if the stereotype is true or false (explain):

We thought about people we know

We did research in books or the Internet

We took a survey and made a graph

We _______________________________________________

We decided that we had enough evidence to burst the stereotype. YES NO


B. What We Do and Don’t See on Television

Key Learning • Identify who is included and excluded in the television

shows that students watch.

• Reflect on the implications of the portrayal of different social groups on television.

• Challenge portrayals by creating an inclusive non-stereotypical television program.\

Note: Some students may not watch television and would be unable to complete the activities in this section. These students could reflect on a movie/book.

Introduce the topic of stereotypes on television. Point out that the things we see/hear on our screens have been shaped by writers, directors, cinematographers, editors, and advertisers.

Prompts • Do people on television look/sound like people in

real life?

• What are the differences?

• Do children on television act like children in real life? Should they?

Review the meaning of the word stereotype (assuming that all members of a group are the same). Discuss why television may use stereotypes in their storylines. (They can establish character quickly by using a stereotype.) Prompts • How might a television writer quickly establish a stereotypical 8-year-old boy? (e.g., wears

‘untucked’ clothes, plays with certain toys/games, such as skate boards or action figures)

• Is this a fair representation of all 8-year-old boys?

• By using stereotypes, what does television often say about children in general? … boys? ….girls? …blind people? young people in wheelchairs? grandparents?

Record responses on a chart:

Children Boys Girls Blind People Young

People in Wheelchairs

Grandparents

bias

explicit (obvious) messages

implicit (hidden) messages

over-represented

under-represented

invisible people

point of view

target audience equitable/inequities

inclusive

• chart paper/markers • coloured pencils • blank poster paper


Discuss the responses from the chart and whether these things always true. (No, e.g., a lot of grandparents enjoy Tai Chi or yoga classes; children with visual impairments go to school and have fun.) Explain how different people might feel about these stereotypes. (A child might feel that his grandfather is different. A blind child might feel that she cannot be on a team.)

Continue the discussion by pointing out that: Stereotyping is a form of bias. Bias includes the idea of not representing all kinds of people in television shows and commercials. Suggest that students look for examples of stereotypes in the televisions shows/commercials they watch over the next week.

Remind students that what we do not see on television also sends a very strong message. Sometimes what is missing from a media message is more important than what has been included (Missing characters, missing perspectives or points of view.)! Facilitate a discussion about people who are over-represented and under-represented in the television shows that the students watch. Suggestions might include:

Over-represented Under-represented

City folk Country folk

Teens Children

White people People of other races

Blonde haired people

People with glasses or braces

Point out that these under-represented people are sometimes considered the invisible people in television shows. How would someone feel if they never saw people like themselves on television?

Use the term “fairness” initially and explain that another way to discuss fairness when we are talking about social groups is to use the term equitable. Point out that the opposite of this is inequitable. Ask: Why are certain groups left out.

Note: When facilitating discussions about inclusion and exclusion of certain groups and how they are portrayed, it is important that positive inclusive programs are noted to ensure that students do not see all television programs as exclusionary and stereotypical.

Discuss the implications of these inequities and have the students suggest “Since....Therefore...” statements. For example: Since there are so few _______ characters included on television, therefore students who are _______ may feel excluded when they watch the show.


1. What Do We Notice? Set a context for the discussion by saying: Sometimes television shows give us information as obvious messages in words or images. But there are also many types of hidden messages.

Prompts

• What other ways do television shows tell us things?

Suggest examples of the hidden messages. (Include the idea of products shown in the kitchen, clothing on the actors, kinds of music playing in the background.)

Summarize the two kinds of messages: • explicit: obvious messages; where television or movies tell us clearly what they mean,

e.g., a movie character holds up a box of chocolate cookies and says that she loves them;

• implicit: hidden messages; where television shows or movies send subtle messages that we may not even realize we are getting, e.g., What does it tell us when the family in a television show is eating a particular cereal? What does it tell us when the poster on a character’s wall is of a particular music group?

Assign small groups to watch for explicit or implicit messages in certain shows. Students pool their results by posting them on a large class T-chart.

Prompt • What do you notice about this show/movie (Consider the background, the music, etc.)?

Explicit Implicit


2. Is It Fair? Post questions to help prompt further discussion:

• What do you notice about the characters on this show? Are they of different ages?

• Describe the serious characters. … the funny ones … the people in charge.

• Were any of the characters stereotypes?

• Are all the families the same, i.e., mother, father and children?

• Is there a balance of boys/men and girls/women?

• Are people of several races included?

• Are there characters with different abilities?

• Do any of the characters have physical limitations or health problems?

• Tell about the setting – city/country, house/apartment, poor family/wealthy family, etc.

• What does the show tell us through the pictures on the walls? …through the products in the home? etc.

• Were there characters that could have been included to make the story more real?

• What else did you notice?

Considering the questions above, work as a class to design an organizer. Students use the organizer as they watch television media messages about families and children over the next few days and report back to the class. Students use check marks or short phrases.

Note: If students do not watch television, use billboards, news stories, etc. as the media form.

Sample Organizer

Media TV, story, newspaper, etc.

Children Adults Boys/ Men

Girls/ Women Race Ability

Story Asian

Post the chart and encourage students to add to it.


3. What Can We Do? Further the discussion about television shows. Prompts • What is a target? What is a target audience when this term is used by a television show

producer? (The group of people that the producers want to watch the show; the people who are most likely to buy the products shown in the commercials.)

• Why is it important to know the target audience for a television show? (To play appropriate music, use appropriate commercials, or make the story interesting for that group.)

Point out that the creators of media messages always know who they want to read/see their message; they know the kinds of messages that will appeal to that target audience. They make it their business to find out a lot about your age group when they want you to ‘choose’ the shows.

Students plan an idea for a program that challenges the stereotypes to show how television can include many types of people and send positive social messages. They think of inclusive non-stereotypical television programs that could be presented to a television network and write plans for them by completing a template that the class begins together.

Program 1 Program 2 Program 3

Target Audience

Type of Family

Asian grandmother, father and two children

Jobs

Home Small apartment in a large complex

Farm in the country

School Public school

Characters/ Ages

Chen, aged 12 Sui Ling, aged 7

Title

Small groups of students choose an idea and further develop it, using Appendix C: Creating a Plan for an Inclusive Television Show.

Work as a class to brainstorm one or two parts of the template for different show ideas or begin several on chart paper for small groups to complete. Small groups choose (or are assigned) one of the samples to complete or begin a blank one.

Students post their plans and report their findings, briefly describing the show and stating why they feel their idea for a new show would be well received by producers, advertisers, and the target audience. Other students point out the positive aspects they notice about the new shows, possibly using sticky notes.


Appendix C: Creating a Plan for an Inclusive Television Show Working in small groups, complete this plan a television show, taking into consideration that the aim of your show is to be more inclusive and challenge stereotypes and inequities.

Group Members: ________________________________________________________

Title of Series __________________________ Title of Episode ___________________

Target Audience: (age group and gender) ____________________________________

Day of the week/time/channel in which television show will be shown: (Take into account the content of your show and your target audience.)

Tell why you chose day, time and channel.

Cast of Characters: (list the characteristics)

1.

2.

3.

4.

Problem for this episode (include a moral that reflects equity and challenges stereotypes):

Ways in which your show reflects equity and challenge stereotypes:

Solution for this episode:

We think this is a good idea for a television program because:


C. Thinking Critically About Superheroes

Key Learning • Identify how different social groups are represented in the image of

a superhero.

• Reflect on the implications of portraying of different social groups as superheroes.

• Challenge stereotypes by creating a superhero.

Display some appropriate comics and graphic novels.

Prompts • We have talked about stories and television shows. Raise

your hand if you watch/enjoy cartoons? … read comics and/or graphic novels?

• What are comics/cartoons and graphic novels?

• Are they always funny? How do they differ from other forms of media (mostly pictures/graphics, include speech bubbles and thought bubbles)?

• Are they just for children?

Point out that the class is going to see whether this type of media is equitable.

graphic novel

speech bubble/ thought bubble

superhero

hero

• comics/graphic novels

• superhero images • chart paper or blank

paper/markers • books/bookmarked

websites about real-life heroes

• story books/novels about heroes/ superheroes


1. What Do We Notice? Post examples of superhero images and/or bookmark appropriate websites.

Prompts • What are superheroes? (characters in comics, cartoons, or graphic novels that wear

costumes, fight villains, etc.)

• Are superheroes stereotypes? Explain.

After examining posted images of graphic superheroes, groups brainstorm the common characteristics of these superheroes and list them on a chart. To further discussion, ask: What common characteristics do you notice when you consider superheroes?

Race What race do you see most commonly represented? What races do you see often under-represented in images of superheroes?

Gender Are the images of superheroes usually male or female? Who is often the victim that needs to be saved in the storyline and who is the hero?

Ability Do you see examples of superheroes that have a disability?

Age Are the elderly ever portrayed as superheroes? Are children ever portrayed as superheroes?

Body Type

What does a male superhero look like? What does a female superhero look like? How are the males and females dressed?

Students compare the completed charts.

Prompts • What do you notice?

• Revisit the question: Are superheroes stereotypes?


2. Is It Fair? Students explore the implications of these stereotypes and the messages they send.

Prompts • What is a superhero? (someone who does extraordinary things with super powers)

• What is a hero?

Discuss. Post this sample definition:

Do you agree with this definition? Do you see any problem with it?

Display books about real-life heroes. List some real heroes. Give each student a cut-out circle and have them write the name of a hero (from real life, the media, or a novel).

Students post their circles under the appropriate title:

Heroes

Real Life Media Novels

Extension: A wise woman named Dr. Maya Angelou coined the term sheroes in the 1980s. She said, “How important it is for us to recognize and celebrate our heroes and sheroes!” What was Dr. Angelou trying to tell us by using this new word? (That girls/women have always been heroes, too.) Point out that many people were excited by her new word but others felt that it was wrong to use it because it made us think that heroes had always been boys/men and that only now could girls start to be heroes too. Discuss.

Revisit the charts posted about characteristics of superheroes in Part 1. Discuss what the implicit or hidden messages are, based on the under-representation of certain groups and the over representation of other groups among the superheroes we see in movies, on TV, or in graphic novels/comics. Prompts • What message might a child with a disability receive from these images of a superhero?

• What message is being sent about girls/women and heroism?

Ask students to name some other superheroes and describe them briefly. Students report about the implications of the stereotypical image of a superhero on different social groupings in a short presentation focussing on the implications for a particular group. For example:

• The Implications Regarding Ability

• The Implications Regarding Race

• The Implications Regarding Gender

Students create an argument as to how these images limit people, considering factors such as how these individuals may feel excluded; how this exclusion may have an impact on the behaviour of a person or someone else who is interacting with that person; etc.

Hero is defined as a man of distinguished courage/ability; recognized by others as a hero.


3. What Can We Do? Explain to students that one way to challenge what you see is to create an image or storyline that questions the images in comics, cartoons, and/or graphic novels. Students choose one or both of the activities to challenge images:

Activity A

Prepare a list or display book/novels about heroes and superheroes for younger children in which the characters are more representative of the general population and live in more realistic situations. Tell students that the books show some of the ways that recent authors have challenged traditional stereotypes. Pairs of students read one of the books and discuss ways that it sends appropriate explicit and implicit messages and how it is challenging stereotypes. Students use Appendix D: The Superhero in the Book to analyse the book. (Note: To stimulate ideas, read and discuss the questions before students begin the task.) They prepare a blurb or poster for the book that will interest younger students in reading it. Share the blurbs with younger classes or hang posters in the library or halls.

OR Activity B

Display books on how to draw or model comic/graphic characters, ensuring that the graphics shown are age-appropriate. Set out various types of art materials.

Students demonstrate their learning by creating a large two-dimensional, non-stereotypical superhero that could be introduced to younger children or create a three-dimensional sculpture of the non-stereotypical superhero. Encourage students to refer back to the characteristics that they observed initially, such as costumes and using violence or weapons to fight crime, and to challenge these stereotypes by making their superheroes more peaceful and realistic. Students display their superheroes outside of the class so that others can learn from their messages. Have students fill out a large arrow, indicating ways that their superhero challenges stereotypes and display this along with the superheroes:

Title the display: REALISTIC Superheroes!

Students use Appendix E: My Non-Stereotypical Superhero. Post with the superheroes.

Extension: Tell the story of Christopher Reeve who played Superman and then became a superhero.

Christopher Reeve (1952 – 2004) achieved stardom for his acting achievements. In 1995, he became a quadriplegic after being thrown from his horse in an equestrian competition. He required a wheelchair and breathing apparatus for the rest of his life. He lobbied for people with spinal cord injuries. He continued to do the job he had had before his accident (actor) and even tried some new ones – director, public speaker, and author!

Students reflect: If you could be a superhero, what superpower would you like to have? How would you use it to help other students feel included? Students could illustrate their thoughts and volunteers post their reflections.


Appendix D: The Superhero in the Book

Name:

Book Title: Author:

What is the superhero’s name?

What are the characteristics of the superhero that break stereotypes?

What is the explicit (obvious) message the author is teaching young children with this superhero?

What is the implied (hidden) message that the author is teaching young children with this superhero?

How is this message different from the messages children usually see in images of a hero/superhero?

What positive impact do you think this superhero will have on young children?

What would you like to say to the author or publisher of this book?


Appendix E: My Non-Stereotypical Superhero

Name:

My superhero’s name:

Characteristics of my superhero that break stereotypes:

My message is different from the message children usually see in images of a superhero because:

The explicit (obvious) message that I am teaching young children with this hero is:

The implied (hidden) message that I am teaching young children with this hero is:

I hope my superhero will:

My message to future creators of superheroes is:


D. Images in Advertising

Key Learning • Identify how different social groups are represented in

advertising.

• Reflect on the implications of the portrayal of different social groups in advertising.

• Challenge some of the media messages by creating a print, radio, television, or Internet commercial reflecting more realistic characters.

Initiate a discussion about advertising and organize the information on a web. Explain that advertising doesn’t just persuade us to buy; it teaches us to buy!

Prompts • What is advertising and what is the purpose of

advertising?

• What media forms include ads/commercials?

• How long are commercials? How much time do we get to study billboards or read newspapers and flyers? Explain. (Ads must get the message to us quickly.)

• What is an ad campaign? (a carefully planned series of ads.)

• Do you think advertising is really necessary?

• Do you believe everything that ads say? Explain.

Note: Make informal notes during discussions to determine students’ awareness of basic advertising techniques (simple message, used to get audience attention, etc.). This will help determine the amount of background information students need to participate fully in discussions and tasks.

advertising persuade/persuasion

ad campaign

techniques

• ads for children’s products/ services where children are the target audience (e.g., library ads, movies, clothing, school supplies, music, pets from magazines, newspapers, brochures, bulletins, posters, flyers, a T-shirt with advertising),

• video camera, voice recording device/software (and microphone),

• scissors, backing paper, glue


Review the idea of target audience and invisible/under-represented people and point out that these concepts are part of advertising as well. Choose one ad and discuss its target audience and who has not been represented in it.

Listen to television commercials for a week and make notes about them. Compile a class chart.

Sample Chart:

Product (what is being

advertised) Message

Target Audience (who they hope is looking at the ad)

Advertiser (who wants you to

read the ad)

When is it shown?

What type of station?

car You need a new car.

adults car manufacturer in the evening

restaurant Children will have fun eating here.

adults with children

restaurant owner on a family station after school

toothpaste

animated movie

Think about the ads again.

Prompt • Were there hidden messages? (e.g., Did the boy using the toothpaste look happy?)

Note: It is important for students to see the difference between what they actually ‘see’ in ads and what they think or feel as they read/watch them.


1. What Do We Notice? Set a context by telling students that there are techniques that advertisers use to attract our attention. Have individual students select an item from one ad or commercial.

Prompts • Do you think the descriptions of products in ads are completely honest, or do advertisers

exaggerate to make the product seem better?

• Do ads ever mislead us?

Tell students that ads use techniques to attract their target audience, such as louder sound during commercials. Students brainstorm other techniques that advertisers use to sell their products, such as colours, logos, emotions, and celebrity endorsements. Further the discussion by suggesting that students also look at the language used to describe products. Small groups find examples of ads that use each of these techniques and report back to the large group.

Discuss more subtle forms of advertising as examples of implicit (hidden) messages such as: • product placement (Point out that when a product appears in a television show, it is not an

accident. Who benefits from product placement and who is hurt by it?);

• corporate sponsorship (Why would a shoe company sponsor a community baseball team and supply shirts with their logo?);

• linking celebrities to the product (Why does a movie star’s image appear on a T-shirt?);

• athletes promoting sportswear (Why does an Olympic swimmer wear a certain type of goggles?);

• shows that have spin-off products such as T-shirts, or backpacks (Why are lunch boxes made with favourite cartoon stars on them?).

Ensure that students understand implicit messages by discussing what is not being said.

Students develop a list of advertising techniques, and collect ads that use these techniques. Make a display classifying examples of different types of advertising techniques. (See Appendix F: Think about Advertising.)

Working in small groups at stations, students look at different types of ads and see if they reflect what they have learned about equity in media. Each station contains an example of a different type of advertising. (See Appendix G: Advertising Stations.) Students discuss the techniques that were used to reach the target audience. Students read, watch, or listen to each sample several times and then discuss using prompts from Appendix F.


2. Is It Fair? Remind students that ads are influencing us in many different ways each day. Discuss why it is important that we become media literate and think carefully about what we are reading or seeing. (We need to be aware that new technology can fool us by manipulating reality.) Prompts • How do the ads get their messages across?

• What techniques of persuasion are used to get our attention?

Record responses on a chart. Revisit Appendix F for ideas.

Students return to the samples provided at the stations and suggest what techniques were used to attract the audience. Volunteers present their results to the class as an oral report or as a poster with labelled arrows pointing to the techniques used.

Students summarize their learning in a journal entry: How do advertisers get our attention?

3. What Can We Do? Some companies challenge some of the ways ads portray people and produce ads that show more realistic people selling their products and include all different people.

Note: Ensure that students have the necessary background about the elements of advertising in order to complete this task. The teacher might provide examples of the characteristics of print, radio announcements, television advertising and Internet advertising. Through direct instruction and teacher-modelling, students develop strong background knowledge prior to participating in these tasks.

See these sites for background on how to create ads:

How to Analyze an Advertisement: Finding Ads’ Hidden Messages http://www.medialit.org/reading_room/article227.html

Television Techniques http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/lessons/elementary/television_radio/teaching_tv_techniques.cfm

Students demonstrate ways to challenge stereotypical ads by making their own print, radio, TV, and/or Internet ads/commercials that portray real people and include the under-represented people. See Appendix H: Make Your Own Ads. Students choose a product or service (e.g., a man selling diapers or children who wish to begin a pet-minding service on their street) and list all its qualities. They begin by considering: • What is the message?

• What media form is best?

• What colours, shapes, and techniques are best?

• Who is the target audience – whom are you trying to attract?

• What will attract the interest of that audience?


Students list the elements that are important for readers/viewers. They write dialogue or captions and/or a jingle and sketch a plan for a poster or make a storyboard for a television ad. They assess their final plans using a checklist for efforts to be inclusive and not stereotypical.

My plan:

Clearly shows/tells about the product/service.

Is simple.

Is attractive.

Will catch target audience’s interest.

Will appeal to different people.

Students post or present their results. The class comments on efforts to be inclusive and techniques used to capture audience attention. List the ways that each groups’ ads/commercials represent/appeal to real people.

Prompt • Are there children and families like the ones in our class and our community represented in

these ads?


Appendix F: Think about Advertising

More Examples of Advertising Techniques

Bandwagon: Join the crowd. Everyone is buying it/using it/doing it. Testimonial: A famous person or authority claims the product is good. Image Advertising: A product is associated with certain people, places, activities.

The implied message is one of attractiveness, wealth, enjoyment, etc. Weasel: A promise is implied by using words like "usually" or "chances are." Omission: Facts about the product are not told. Repetition: Saying it again and again. Scale: Making a product bigger or smaller. Association: Promising adventure, attractiveness, quality. Name-calling: Making the product seem better by using unpopular terms about the

competition. Media Awareness Network http://www.media-

awareness.ca/english/resources/educational/lessons/elementary/advertising_marketing/ads_all_around_us.cfm

Things to think about:

• Are boys/men and girls/women included?

• Are there different people included?

• Are there invisible people who could also have been included?

• What makes you stop and look at the ads? Which pictures do you like the best? Why?

• What kinds of things are being sold? Do you think you would buy them? Are there ads for things that children would want or use? Why or why not?

• Are there people in the pictures? What are they doing?

• Are there a variety of people? Are they men, women, or children? Do they look happy or sad?

• Why do you think these people are in these ads? What is the ad trying to sell?


Appendix G: Advertising Stations (for the teacher)

Two or three samples such as grocery store flyer about school lunch ideas, newspaper insert showing fashionable school clothes from different types of ads (e.g., leaflets, flyers, posters, fashion magazines, newspapers, magazines, comics). Station 1: Print

(LOOK)

Mp3 files for two or three ads or Public Service Announcements (PSAs); commercial for upcoming play at a community theatre. Students use headphones. Station 2: Radio

(LISTEN)

Samples of posters or ads for current or upcoming movies or television shows. Ad for a current 3-D animated movie, magazine ad for an upcoming family movie.

Station 3: TV/Movies (LOOK and LISTEN)

Bookmarks for two or three sites such as a children’s television network site.

Station 4: Internet (LOOK and LISTEN

and INTERACT)


Appendix H: Make Your Own Ads

Station A: Print Ad (LOOK)

Use art materials to design a print ad for a specific purpose, such as a flyer page advertising suitable food for children’s lunches, a magazine ad for children’s toothpaste, or a billboard for a family resort. (Note: You could cut out the product from an ad and then make their your ad around that image.) Consider colourful fonts, photos, placement of the page, size, colour, an eye-catching headline

Station B: Radio Ad (HEAR)

Prepare an ad or commercial for radio using a mock microphone, sound equipment or using voice recording devices and software. The ad could promote visits to a local library or attendance at a community sports event. Consider sound effects, choice of voices

Station C: Television Commercial (LOOK and HEAR)

Dramatize a video-taped commercial advertising a product for students using camera angles, product placement, etc. Consider sound (loud/soft), time (long/short), colour, an interesting graphic or logo

Station D: Web Page (L OOK, HEAR and INTERACT)

Plan a web page to advertise a children’s television show or upcoming movie. Consider many of the things above but you might also include an interactive part.


Conclusion: What We’ve Learned Point out that no television show, news article, book, etc. can represent all of the characteristics of all people in Canada but that each should include a variety of people and that a television network; a book list/library/bookstore; or a complete newspaper should include an even wider variety of people.

Assess whether students have become more media literate and increased their ability to look critically past the explicit messages to the implicit messages. Summarize the learning by making a list of the features that all media have in common. Possible features include:

• All media give messages and use techniques to ensure that the target audience get their message.

• Media inform, persuade, or entertain.

• Media messages are interpreted differently by different groups.

• Some groups are not represented fairly in media.

Five Key Critical Viewing Questions 1. Who created this message?

2. What techniques are used to attract my attention?

3. How might different people understand this message differently from me?

4. What lifestyles, values, and points of view are represented in or omitted from this message?

5. Why was this message sent?

Center for Media Literacy: poster http://www.medialit.org/sites/default/files/14A_CCKQposter.pdf

Students make bookmarks with slogans that reflect learning throughout this resource. The class works together to generate slogans and students choose one or two slogans and use interesting fonts, colours, and graphics to display them on the bookmarks.

Examples might include:

Cinderella could have been a boy!

Girls do not have to ride pink bicycles!

My Granddad likes to roller blade!

Always consider who wrote the book!

Post the bookmarks under the title:

We Thought Critically about Equity and Media Literacy!

media literacy unit

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